


sacrificial.

by smartbuckley



Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [5]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Hospitalized Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, POV Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29861169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartbuckley/pseuds/smartbuckley
Summary: Eddie watches as Buck lets go, and decides then and there to change things.----Written for day five of eddie diaz week,please don't do thisandsacrifice.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189424
Comments: 12
Kudos: 283
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	sacrificial.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the lovely [Mikayla](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedapuppyandsomevodka) for beta-editing this piece.

When the alarm rang, it was at the tail end of a twenty-four-hour shift, with every single member of the 118 exhausted. They had been going on call after call throughout the shift, barely had time to eat any real meals, and had just arrived at the station house when it had gone off, everyone sighing in frustration as they turned around, shoulders slumped.

The drive to the next call was quick - according to Bobby, it was a five-alarm fire at an abandoned college turned mental hospital, something that was never fun under any circumstances. The entire set of buildings were on fire, which is why it was a five-alarm in the first place, with numerous teams having been sent out and arrived already. But by the time the team had arrived themselves -- it almost looked like nothing had been done, like the wind had changed direction and the fire had roared harder than it was when it had started.

Once the truck had stopped completely, Eddie had jumped out from it with Buck by his side. The two of them had made their way towards the building, Bobby shouting after them, something that they couldn’t really understand with the roar of the wind. Their radios had crackled with life a few moments later though, telling them to find the incident commander and report what they were doing afterward.

It took them both a few minutes to locate him, but eventually, they did, and it was then that they learned that the set of buildings had been squatted in by numerous families and both men --

Both men had run inside knowing what they needed to do, knowing that there were families inside that needed to be saved. Working together, they called out, hoping to hear some sort of response.

Eventually, though, their radios went off once more, telling everyone to evacuate the building, that the building was beyond saving, and Eddie --

Eddie hated it. They hadn’t found anyone in the wing they had chosen, and as Buck and himself dragged their feet to get out of there, still calling out for people, Eddie knew that the longer they went with no one returning their calls --

Before he could think about what that meant exactly, he could feel the floor falling out from under his feet, the steps in front of him leading outside so close - close enough that he quickly grabbed onto the edge of one of them, screaming Buck’s name and looking behind him, a small breath of relief escaping from him when he sees Buck hanging onto his legs. It’s uncomfortable, and he can feel his grip loosening on the stairs, can see one of the stairs above him begin to splinter and crack, and even over the roar of the fire, he can hear Buck calling his name.

Craning his neck to look behind him, Eddie’s eyes widen when he sees Buck looking at him, looking at the ground below him.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Buck!” Eddie shouts, shaking his head as the stairs continue to crack.

“You know I have to, Eddie,” Buck responds and Eddie can’t help but continue shaking his head, eyes beginning to water. 

“I have to let go, Eddie. If I don't, Chris loses us both. This way ---” Buck pauses here, and Eddie shakes his head once more. “I’m letting go. You can get up the rest of the stairs, get help, and come back for me,” Buck adds.

“Please don’t do this,” Eddie says, though he’s not sure if Buck can hear him - not when the other man lets go as he does, and Eddie screams, watching Buck fall.

* * *

Eddie finds himself sitting at Buck’s bedside, eyes rimmed red and hands joined as he waits for his best friend to wake up. Watching him, Eddie can’t help but think about the date he was going to ask Buck on later - the date that Eddie had no idea if Buck could ever agree to now, if he didn’t wake up.

When Buck had let go - when he had fallen into the flames, getting knocked out to the point of his PASS alarm going off, Eddie had forced himself to climb up the rest of the stairs, radioing in immediately after, stating he had a man down.

The rest of the 118 had known immediately it was Buck and had come to help, had come to save the two of them because there was no way Eddie was leaving without Buck. Even with the incident commander yelling at them to get out of the building - the team didn’t.

The team saved them, even with the building collapsing around them.

And then they had all rushed to the hospital, Eddie riding along in the ambulance, unable to let go of Buck’s hand because he had stopped breathing, and Eddie --

Eddie couldn’t lose Buck. So now he was sitting at Buck’s bedside, knowing that Buck was alive and generally alright, that he just needed to wake up and he  _ still  _ hadn’t. All Eddie wanted was for the other man to do so, just so he could give Buck hell for causing him this kind of grief.

“He’s going to be alright, you know,” Chimney says and Eddie finds himself blinking, not quite sure when Chim had entered the room. He knows if it was any other moment in time, he would be jumping in surprise but he’s too tired, too worried.

“I know,” Eddie ends up whispering, squeezing Buck’s hand hopeful he wakes up sooner rather than later.

“Eddie,” Chim says, and he steps closer towards them, but Eddie shakes his head. Not because he doesn’t want to hear whatever their friend has to say, but because he knows he’s going to cry the moment Chim starts talking, and Eddie is done crying.

“Eddie,” Chim tries one more time and Eddie looks at him briefly out of the corner of his eye, a small sigh escaping from him before he looks away from Chim and closes his eyes once more, bringing his head down to kiss at Buck’s knuckles in his hand.

“I can’t, Chim. Not right now,” Eddie says after a few minutes, opening his eyes to look at the man he’s in love with and never got an opportunity to tell.

“He’s going to wake up,” Eddie hears and he can’t help but smile.

“I know, Chim. I have no doubts about that,” he responds, voice soft, eyes unwavering from Buck’s form.

“Do you know why?” Chim asks and Eddie finds himself frowning, turning to look towards him in confusion, shaking his head.

“Because,” Chim says after a few minutes, stepping forward and placing his hand on Eddie’s shoulder, squeezing it with a soft smile before he continues, “Because he has you and Chris to fight for. Because he loves you two, loves you in ways he’s been looking for for so long,” Chim finishes and Eddie lets out a sob, placing his head down on the bed by Buck’s thigh, squeezing his hand once more.

“I just need him awake so I can call him an idiot and then kiss him senseless,” Eddie admits, his voice a soft whisper. He feels Chim squeeze his shoulder once more, a small chuckle escaping from him that has Eddie frowning.

“Then maybe you should look up, Eddie,” he hears and without thought, his eyes widen and his head snaps up, looking towards Buck, who is starring in return.

“Hi,” Buck whispers and Eddie lets out another sob, moving up to kiss Buck lightly before pulling back briefly.

“You idiot,” he whispers.

“So I heard,” Buck responds, a soft smile forming on his face, his hand raised as he caresses Eddie’s cheek and Eddie closes his eyes, touching Buck’s forehead with his own after a minute.

“Never do that again, alright?” Eddie asks, voice soft as Buck nods and hums in response.

“I’ll try not to,” Buck adds, and Eddie lets out a chuckle, shaking his head before pulling away, staring at Buck, unable to look away.

“I love you,” he whispers, ignoring the way his heart pounds fast and hard inside of his chest as Buck grins.

“I love you too, Eds,” Buck says, squeezing his hand, just before the rest of the team makes their way through the doors, Maddie carrying Chris, the team all checking in on Buck themselves.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. Please let me know if I missed any tags/triggers. Leaving comments makes my day and pushes me to write more, so if you loved this, hated this, or think I could do better, let me know!


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